Saturday, May 30, 2009

Growing Garden

We start out with the camera cam. This is from
May 30, 2009.


And now here is our growing garden - Amazing that today is SUNNY, Yay! Please ignore the weeds - it's REALLY been too wet to weed, I promise!



If you look carefully you can see our green tomatoes.


Green pole beans after about the 3rd planting!


Zucchini, yellow squash and cucumber (I hope!), plus beans, peppers, basil etc in the right background. Again, please ignore the green "haze" on the ground.


Tomato and corn.


Our volunteer bachelor buttons, and the birthday willow in the background.


And that is our garden update.
Happy Sabbath!

Salamandar Salutations

Looking healthy and well-fed. They must just be slow growing, I think.




Our baby, Sallie, has left us with an empty nest (well, terrarium anyway). Last week I took her down near the pond and let her go. She was very anxious to get away and scurried under the leaves as quick as she could. S took a few last photos.

Isn't she sweet?

Rain, rain, rain.....that's been our story for the last 6 weeks! Our clayey soil is struggling to cope and I just hope bell peppers and tomatoes and all our other vegetables actually like growing in standing water....

More later!

Friday, May 22, 2009

May Mercies

Today we had the third major fire in this neighborhood within 2 months, right next door. Yep, had to call 911 myself . The teenager next door (below us) decided to burn an old abandoned trailer himself, guarding it with a hosepipe. Oh yes, the foolish things we do when young! In the meantime before the firetrucks got there (over 10 minutes), we kept it from spreading with our hose and a bucket - did a right good job even if I must say so myself.

Unfortunately I only thought to get the cameras after the fire was practically out. Missed the blazing inferno...shucks!


So - we are grateful for the mercies of a contained fire that had a lot of potential to do great, powerful and destructive things! I hope this ends the streak of fires on our street!

Since I haven't blogged for several weeks I'll catch you up on some of the main events. Lots of music recitals and concerts (for which I don't have TOO many still pictures); another investiture with its party; our CHE year-end party (including a baby raccoon); a picnic at a Gymkhana/Horse show; and other odds and ends of the past month.


We sat by the horse arena with our picnic "basket" on a most beautiful, gorgeous spring day in a very idyllic place on a horse farm, and enjoyed all the events. I think this was end of April. This was a perfect day - warm but not hot; lightly breezy but not windy; no mosquitoes, no humidity, no rain. Yes, a perfect day!


Some of the "free" horses peacefully grazing, after first standing at the fence looking longingly at the competitors.



Waiting around for the next class to begin? or perhaps receiving their ribbons, I don't remember.


A sleepy, orphaned raccoon gets admired by fascinated kids. (May 19)


A gaggle of girls at a photo shoot. (year-end CHE party, May 19)


Peonies from our garden - ah, the memory of its delicious, fragrant aroma...



Orchestra does the church service (x2) April 25, 2009.



McDonald Road Investiture, May 2.



And here, if it's real, is a photo (distributed via email) of a very rare sight in Cape Town - a thunderstorm, supposedly one morning. Lovely, dramatic photos though, photo-shopped or not!!


Sorry about the "webcam" - and oh yes, we have a vegetable garden put in - you'll definitely need updates of that. So, next time I hope to catch you up, but as you can see, we're being kept out of mischief, and that's the main thing, right? Right!!